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West Memphis Free

Critics of the case against the men argued that no direct evidence tied the three to the murders and that a knife recovered from a lake near the home of one of the men could not have caused the boys' wounds. More recent DNA testing also demonstrated no links, according the men's supporters.

Evidence in the case has been falling apart under scrutiny, and it looks like DNA evidence has essentially cleared them. However, they had to make a special plea arrangement to end the whole mess.

Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 18 years in prison with credit for time served, a prosecutor said.

The three entered what is known as an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to maintain innocence while simultaneously acknowledging that the state has evidence to convict, Ellington said.

Three men were tried and convicted of the murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas on May 5, 1993, subsequently referred to as the West Memphis Three. During the trial, the prosecution put forth the idea that the only purported motive in the case was that the slayings were part of a Satanic ritual. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case was super controversial, because of the association with Satanism and the questionable nature of the investigation and trial proceedings. This came to national attention with an HBO documentary called Paradise Lost.

It's an interesting movie. Even if you don't care about the case or the judicial system or young children or our dark lord Satan, you should track down a copy and give it a look.

These fuckers who think being tough on crime equals locking people up because they look guilty or are different/weird/eccentric/aren't grieving "the right way" completely miss the point of our legal system. Innocent until proven guilty is not that you did or didn't do the crime, it's that nobody can prove it.

Also, people who try to make the evidence just fit their theory piss me off. The evidence is the evidence. If it doesn't fit your theory, then most likely it's not the evidence that is wrong. Go back and work it again.

One time, I had a friend over to play a bit of Red Alert on my LAN. During the game he said he needed to go to the bathroom, so we paused it. After about 10 minutes of wondering where the hell he went, I get up and go to check on him.

So it looks like this kind of plea basically says that they claim they're innocent, but recognize that they could get convicted because the prosecutor has enough evidence, or the right kind of evidence, to convince a jury they're guilty.

And we already know the second half of that situation is true, because people are idiots.

So I can live with this as long as they walk.

Shorty on August 2011

and I broke parole just to get to you

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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldAustin, TXRegistered Userregular

"In a nutshell, you are pleading guilty not because you admit that you did something wrong but because you are concerned the state has enough evidence to prove you guilty," attorney B.J. Bernstein said. "This is a common thing in tough cases, where a defendant is just adamant; I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it. They won't confess to it, but the evidence is so strong they are going to lose."

The highly technical legal maneuver also allows the three to be freed and be considered innocent. Although an Alford plea is treated as a guilty plea for sentencing, it cannot be held against the three men in any subsequent criminal prosecution or civil proceeding.